Changes in Packet SubmissionLast year, teams were given the option of writing half-packets instead of full packets, in order to give more teams the opportunity to have their questions used, and reduce the glut of unused questions sent in past years. This year, the full packet option will be removed, and half-packets will be mandatory for packet-submitting teams. Discounts will also be adjusted accordingly. As before, half-packet distributions will be assigned by the editors to each team. The intent of this change is to further cut down on unused submissions.

Beginning this year, high school teams are not eligible to participate in ACF tournaments, including ACF Fall, that are designated as collegiate mirrors. In regions with enough demand, we are interested in continuing to provide the Fall set for High School-only mirrors.

Packet SubmissionAny team with at least one person on it who played a regular, collegiate, academic quizbowl tournament prior to September 1, 2014 is required to submit a packet, unless it is a high school team attending a high school-only mirror. Starting this year, high school players are exempt from this definition and pay fees as determined by their site hosts.

All submitting teams will be assigned a half-packet distribution upon registration, using this form. The assigned distribution is non-negotiable.

11.59 PM PST September 13: -$3011.59 PM PST September 27: -$15 (-$30 if optional)11.59 PM PST October 11: no penalty (-$15 if optional)11.59 PM PST October 18: +$2511.59 PM PST October 25: +$50After October 25: +$10/day until October 31; teams who are required to submit a packet and do not submit one by November 1 will not be allowed to play.

FeesBase fee: $120 for one team from a school, $240 for two teams from a school, etc.Buzzer systems*: -$5 each Staffers: -$10 each No maximum.Laptop: -$5 each Maximum 1 per team.Travel: -$10 per 200 miles traveled one wayInternational**: -$20New to ACF teams***: -$25New quizbowl teams****: -$75

* No discount for broken buzzers; no maximum.** For teams representing schools located in a different country than the tournament host.*** For schools which haven't played an ACF tournament between September 2013 and August 2015, and have no one on the team(s) claiming this discount who played those tournaments for another school.**** For schools which did not send a team to any regular collegiate academic tournament since September 2013, and have no one on the team(s) claiming this discount who played those tournaments for another school. May be combined with new ACF team discount for a total new-team discount of $100.

Packet PenaltiesWe have clear guidelines on what your submissions can or cannot be, with information on penalties for flouting the guidelines. Please follow them. We will enforce penalties.

Friendly RemindersPlease follow the processes and guidelines laid out by the editors and ACF.Don't talk about your submitted questions with anyone else until the editors tell you it's okay.Please follow past iterations of ACF Fall, e.g. the 2008, 2009, 2012 versions, for an idea of what your submissions should be like. If you think a particular topic you want to write on is too hard, it probably is. Write on something easier.

If you plan to submit a bid to host a mirror of this tournament, please email us at fall@acf-quizbowl.com before Saturday, August 8th. Bids will be evaluated as they arrive, and we reserve the right to award bids before the deadline. If you would like to bid, we encourage you to do so sooner rather than later -- at the very least, drop us a line ASAP indicating your intent to submit bid.

In light of recent discussions, we have decided to make these changes to the policy for high school participation in ACF Fall.

- High school teams will not be required to submit packets regardless of their history of playing in collegiate tournaments. - Packets submitted by high school teams will not be accepted.- ACF will offer the completed set for high school mirrors at a cost of $25 per team in attendance. Hosts will be free to set their own fees and discounts.

We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause teams already in the writing process. Please reach out to us if you have any concerns.

Are the fields usually this sparse at the first deadline? It seems like there's a good number of mirror sites with very few signups.Just kind of curious. I know it's early in the year, which might be some of it, especially for quarter-system teams

We had 91 registrations before 14 September last year. We have 90 registrations as of this post on 13 September. Some mirrors might have fewer teams, but on the whole this is shaping up to be another exciting year for ACF Fall.

That said, we do hope that hosts are proactively contacting regional programs and are happy to help hosts with this process.

A few formatting reminders, copied over from last year's announcement:

A couple of things to keep in mind as you finish up your submission:1. Make sure you follow the Half-packet distribution we have assigned you. 2. Follow the ACF Formatting guidelines (link). If your submission strays far from these guidelines, we will return it to you and ask that you re-send us a well formatted submission. These are the most common offenses:a. Don't randomize your submission.b. Group questions by category. That is, 5 lit tossups, then 5 lit bonuses; then 5/5 of history, then 5/5 of science, ... c. Don't number your questions.d. Write in TNR, size 10, 1 inch margins.If you'd like to see an example of a well-formatted submission, drop us a line. 3. Include your team name and the names of all players who wrote questions for the packet at the top of your submission. E.g.

gaurav.kandlikar wrote:We had 91 registrations before 14 September last year. We have 90 registrations as of this post on 13 September. Some mirrors might have fewer teams, but on the whole this is shaping up to be another exciting year for ACF Fall.

That said, we do hope that hosts are proactively contacting regional programs and are happy to help hosts with this process.

Gautam wrote:All registered teams can expect an update about payments by EOD Friday.

-Gautam

Hi folks-

My apologies I haven't gotten this info out yet. Just haven't had a chance to work out a PO box arrangement, but I promise it will be done tomorrow. You can expect invoices over email beginning this weekend.

Many teams should have received emails with a link to the invoice. If you have not, then we're either expecting packets from you or I just have not been able to enter your org's details into our new system. I'll continue to work on the invoices over the next few days, so you should expect it soon. If there are any questions about the invoice itself, please get in touch with me at gautam.acf@gmail.com.

If you have any updates to your registration itself, please continue to email the Tournament Director for your site and also keep your editors (fall@acf-quizbowl.com) in the know.

All team contacts should have received the following email as of a couple of minutes ago. If you didn't get it, just email me at gautam.acf@gmail.com

I, in my email, wrote:Team contacts to BCCEditors to CC

Hi-

This is a long email, please bear with me. I will post a copy of the email on the ACF Fall announcement thread so you can always reference it in the future.

If you are receiving this email you are listed as a team contact for your team for ACF Fall 2015. I am the ACF treasurer Gautam Kandlikar. Please note: Many of you may have my private email address, I'm requesting that if you need to get in touch with me, use gautam.acf@gmail.com for all communications.

First of all, thank you for signing up to play. We have 179 teams signed up, which is awesome! If you have any questions about signing up more teams, please reach out to your editors (who are CCd). The editors are putting in a ton of great effort, and I think you will really like the tournament when you play it in November.

I wanted to write to you about how payments are going to work this year. So if you have any questions about that, I hope this email clears. If you still have further questions, please reply to this email.

Canada/UK teams: The below may not apply to you. I will be emailing you separately about payments.

W9If your institution requires that vendors fill out a W9 for reimbursement, please let me know ASAP. If you are not sure what this is, please talk to your club advisor or a representative from your student group/activities admin.

InvoicesWe have fancy new invoices for ACF Fall and future ACF tournaments. About half the universities and schools registered should have received an invoice. For the rest of the teams - you should be receiving these over the next few days. If you need one ASAP just drop me an email.

If there is anything wrong in your invoice, or you notice any errors, just send me an email. I'll fix it and send you a new link.

If you need a physical invoice, you should be able to print one out from the link in your email. If you are not able to do that, drop me a line and we will work it out.

Payment formatsOld school checks sent via snail-mail are best for now. All checks should be made payable to "Academic Competition Federation" and mailed to the Houston, TX address listed on the top left of the invoice.

I've heard from a few teams that electronic payments are more convenient. If you are in the same boat, please drop me an email stating your preference.

Receipt of payment

If you need a receipt, just let me know via email, and we can arrange that.

Other questions?If there are any other questions you about payments, or would like to work out the details for your payment arrangements... you know the drill: drop me an email at gautam.acf@gmail.com